FIVE RICH WOMEN COMPETED FOR THE MAFIA BOSS — THEN HE CHOSE THE WAITRESS SERVING THEIR CHAMPAGNE

Evelyn Sterling asked to meet me alone.

Adrian said no.

I went anyway.

With security three tables away.

Evelyn chose a crowded hotel restaurant at noon.

"You're difficult to understand," she said.

"You sent me a threat. I understand you fine."

"It wasn't a threat. It was proof your privacy is already gone."

She slid a tablet toward me.

Someone had accessed Mom's medical portal fourteen times in two weeks.

The login originated from a Sterling Capital subsidiary.

"Your company?"

"One my father controls."

"And you didn't stop it?"

"I discovered it yesterday."

Her father, Malcolm Sterling, financed Meridian's parent company.

He had quietly funded Salvatore for years.

Evelyn had been invited to marry Adrian because Sterling Capital needed direct access to Moretti Holdings before federal regulators examined the hospital deals.

"So you're number five," I said.

"Apparently."

"Do you want him?"

She thought about it.

"I wanted what choosing me would prove."

That answer was honest enough to sting.

"And now?"

"Now I think all six of us have been standing in the same room while our fathers and uncles moved us around like signatures."

Evelyn handed me a secure drive.

"This contains Sterling financing records. If I give it to Adrian, he'll think it's leverage. If I give it to you, maybe you'll treat it like evidence."

"Why trust me?"

"Because you told a mafia boss he couldn't order a doctor around."

I laughed despite myself.

Then a man at the bar stood.

Evelyn's face changed.

"That's my father's security director."

The man stopped beside the table.

"Ms. Sterling, your father wants you home."

"No."

His eyes shifted to the drive in my hand.

"That property belongs to Sterling Capital."

I put it in my purse.